Listen, we all like to make our stories sound amazing, and there is an art form to it. But if you make up a wind speed, and there's no societal price for fabrication, no longer will ACTUALLY KNOWING THE WINDSPEED mean anything in conversation.

Climbing in 25MPH gusts is f*#king impossible, and it sounds pathetic because asshats claim to climb in 60mph gusts at josh every tuesday.

Unless you got instruments, it just blew 'really hard.'

:) end rant!

(not directed at Cragman, haha I bet he actually DID measure it in that other thread, or knows what it feels like :D but you get my drift...)

Yes. I was out at Moffett Field totally miserable, the winds were blowing so hard, they were about as hard as the worst winter days I've been out at Josh... maybe a little harder. The pilots and officials brought out the measuring equipment and declared 15mph with gusts to 25mph. Anymore than that, which does happen, and you can't stand up. :)

You know, that iPhone app is pretty bad-ass. But its like knowing the temperature.

It's just a number, and a number doesn't mean anything. 20mph in a T shirt in the desert in july, and 40mph in a down coat in winter, ya know? Same with temperate - doesn't matter what it says, I know when I'm cold and I know when I'm not. If it's fuggin freezing but the temperature is "only 65" I'll throw a coat on.

We're so attached to numbers, attached to quantifying... 10D or 10C... lol.

e.g. How windy is it when: your ropes blow sideways or up? Your balanced on your spread knees at a slabby belay and the wind keeps knocking you over every few seconds? you let go of the positive grips for upward movement in favor of sideways micro-crimps so the wind gusts won't launch you sideways? you can't speak with your partner at the same belay station unless you yell into cupped hands over their ears?

And wind speed isn't the relevant issue anyway. 10mph, 20, whatever, as long as it's constant, it's usually not a problem. The problem is changes in wind speed. Gusts. Lean hard into a 45mph wind and you can walk. Let that wind suddenly drop to 30mph and you're on your face on the ground.

Likewise for climbing. Up to a certain point, as long as the wind is constant, you can deal with it relatively easily. But let it suddenly gust, and you're flying.

A friend of mine has an interesting account of a descent off Fitzroy. He was leading the rappels, as his partner had broken an ankle in a fall. A storm was breaking too. He said that repeatedly he would be rapping and get blown back up the wall by a gust and then dropped. Utterly wild.